Criminally Insane
by Tinuviel Storm
Summary: Hermione wakes up eight years after the final war in the criminally insane ward at St. Mungo's. But why is she here? And WHO is her Mediwizard!
1. Mad World

A/N: anybody currently reading my other fanfic All Sane and Logical I promise I'm not abandoning it! This is merely a new story I'm working on when I'm suffering from writer's block on ASL. If you're a new reader, feel free to check up on my other fanfics, especially if you're into humor as well. Now, on with the story!

Chapter 1- Mad World

"Hermione sweetie, it's time to wake up! It's another beautiful day outside. Oh how I love fall! Maybe after your morning potion you can ask the mediwizard if you can go outside by the lake, he seems to think you are doing much better, although I can't detect a change for the life of me. Oh goodness I forgot your serving spoon, silly me… can you handle a regular spoon for today, Hermione? This one is pretty also even if it isn't pink…"

Hermione heard an incessant voice humming as though at the end of a long tunnel. Panic overcame her, and she forced herself to pull her mind from the sleep that enveloped it and open her bleary eyes. Instinctively Hermione reached to rub her eyes only to find her hands tied to the bed. A second wave of panic rushed over her as she struggled at the bindings, trying to comprehend her situation. The woman whose voice had aroused her from her sleep seemed oblivious as she readied the potions to Hermione's struggles as she pulled at the bindings. Padded walls. No windows. An iron bed that she was currently tied to. _What the hell is going on?_

"I've just finished hunny; I have your potion and yogurt all ready for you…" the woman turned and advanced, oblivious to the horror in Hermione's eyes.

"Get away from me! I don't know who you are, but I'm not supposed to be here! Untie me at once!" Hermione shouted, trying to look intimidating while struggling with the binds on her wrists and ankles.

"Now, now, Hermione," the woman who's attire suggested her position as a nurse reprimanded. "There's no need to have a bad day. Remember… a pill a day keeps the anger at bay! Now just lower your voice and maybe you'll be allowed to walk around today…"

"I must be going insane," Hermione muttered, still trying to recall how exactly she had ended up in this position.

"You're already there, hun," the nurse jested while tipping the potion into Hermione's mouth. Hermione sputtered and managed to spit it out before any slid down her throat as the nurse turned around. Hearing Hermione's coughs, she turned back to the bed.

"What's wrong with you today, Hermy? You're usually so good with your medication, especially when it's bubble-gum flavored…"

"WHERE AM I?! WHAT AM I DOING HERE? HOW COME I'M NOTAT HOGWARTS? WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Hermione finally managed to scream out. The nurse stared, mouth agape.

"Do you… do you know what your name is, Hermione?"

"OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT MY NAME IS! YOU KEEP FLIPPIN' REPEATING IT!" Hermione couldn't believe this. She was tied to a bed and a funny looking witch was asking her what her name was. Had she gotten drunk last night? _Except I don't drink…_ Hermione corrected herself, her breath quickening as she realized that she had no recollection past studying in the library at Hogwarts the night before their NEWTs exam…

"Where are Harry and Ron?" Hermione's voice turned into a plea as her overwhelming panic turned to fear and need for her two best friends.

"I'm going to get the mediwizard," the nurse muttered, a look of astonishment etched onto her face as she tried to hurry out of the room.

"Wait- untie me first! Why am I here! Come back! You can't leave me here! I can take you!!" A click resided through the room as the door closed assuring Hermione that she was most definitely locked inside. Was this a joke? _No_, she reasoned, _no one would go to such lengths for a jest. _Uncontrolled tears slid from her eyes before she hastily wiped them away on her shoulder. Her arms ached, her back ached, and she was hungry and scared. _What could have possibly happened between studying last night and this morning?_ Hermione searched her brain frantically, but came up with nothing. And then she noticed something. Her hair was at least six inches longer, falling down past her chest now. _How long have I been here?_ A new terror gripped her heart.

"Miss Granger, I have just been informed that with correlation to your sudden anxiety attack this morning you spoke about Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, which demanded that I grace you with my presence at this early hour…" Hermione's mouth dropped open at the tall blond whose silver eyes were running over her with concern. Standing before her was none other than Draco Malfoy. Not the Draco Malfoy she deducted points from last night for wandering the halls, however. This Draco Malfoy's hair wasn't slicked to his head, but rather fell into his eyes with the absence of gel. This Draco Malfoy had a lean but fit figure rather than the skinny body he had before. Further, this Draco Malfoy was definitely _not_ seventeen.

"Malfoy, there is something very strange going on," Hermione tried to rationalize, wondering if she was still asleep. "Why in bloody hell am I tied up?" she demanded, feeling very vulnerable as she was alone in a room with Malfoy, tied up and wandless. An incredulous look from Draco and a flick of a wand later, Hermione's constraints fell free, allowing her freedom once more. Massaging her wrists, Hermione pulled herself into a sitting position; still trying to remember what had preceded this.

"Voldemort brought me here didn't he? This is a trap for Harry!" Hermione yelled desperately, feeling suddenly very foolish for not thinking about this earlier. _Of course, the question remains why would Voldemort bother placing me in a mental ward? And why would Draco Malfoy untie me?_

At Hermione's outcry Draco placed a silencing charm on the room before glaring at Hermione in half-amazement, half-exasperation.

"You can't start shouting about Harry and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Hermione!" he snarled, striding to the bed where he placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'm assuming that you have now recovered your memory," he continued, eyes looking at her with real concern.

"How long have I been here?" Hermione whispered with trepidation. Draco looked away, trying to think of a way to break it to Hermione that she had just lost a huge portion of her life, and by the looks of things, the rest of it.

"Eight years," Malfoy answered, watching Hermione's face carefully.

"But… how… what…?"

"You are currently in the criminally insane ward at St. Mungo's. When you were brought in, you couldn't speak coherently; we've been working with you for years to get you to the intelligence of a five-year-old. It has been documented that you have been suffering from a combination of memory loss and Multiple Personality Disorder. This is the first time you've known either my name or your own."

Hermione felt the blood rush out of her face. It was so much, too much. However, her thirst for knowledge was not quenched quite yet.

"You said we…?"

"Yes, me and team of nurses. I've been working with you for four years."

"So you're a doctor, I take it," Hermione fiddled with words, trying to avoid the question that was truly plaguing her.

"A medi-wizard to be exact; however, excellent observation, that one took talent." An uncomfortable silence settled over the room.

"Umm, Malfoy?" Hermione asked nervously. Draco graced her with a nod to prompt her to continue.

"If I just lost my memory, then why am I with the criminally insane?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling. Malfoy's demeanor changed dramatically. He was now completely still, and held Hermione's gaze for a long time before answering.

"Because they think you killed Harry Potter."

A/N: I know this was a short first chapter, but as it was the major groundwork for the story, I decided to only put in the essentials and wait to elaborate. There is a good reason that Draco Malfoy is a medi-wizard, Hermione's particularly, and yeah. I promise it will get better! I have a lot of ideas for this story… just please please review so that I can get some feedback… determines whether or not it's worth my time and energy…

So in other words… review please! Thanks for reading!


	2. Make Up Your Mind

A/N: VERY IMPORTANT I just re-did this chapter as when I uploaded it last night, it put the whole body of text in one paragraph. THIS WAS NOT INTENTIONAL! Thank you too all who reviewed at such time and let me know about this. I'm really sorry for any who were inconvenienced or stopped reading at the sight of it… I know I would have ;)

I hope you enjoy it and it's easier to read now, and again, really sorry about the long update, but I already have half of chapter 3 written so hopefully the next one will be quicker :)

Chapter 2- Make Up Your Mind

The effect of Draco's words was similar to a bucket of ice water being poured on one's head. Hermione sat perfectly still, not daring to look directly at the man in front of her who was telling her that she was responsible for her best friend's apparent death. She could hear footsteps down the hall and the ticking of hospital's clock magnified in the deadened silence.

"Hermione, listen to me," Draco said urgently, his voice barely a whisper. Hermione's eyes focused on a crack that ran the length of the opposite wall. It was a large crack that seemed to go on forever. Why hadn't anyone tried to fix it?

"We don't have a lot of time; you have to focus on me." Draco's voice sounded as though it was coming from the end of a very long tunnel. _Then again,_ Hermione mused, _maybe some things just can't be fixed. Maybe some things just have to be left to crumble and fall._

"Hermione!" Draco's voice cut through the silent room like a whip. Hermione blinked, her eyes focusing on Draco once more.

"Did I really do it?" she asked, her voice tremulous with unshed tears. Draco looked sharply at the girl before him, her evident pain making him catch his breath.

"_I_ don't believe you did," he said, grasping her hands. Who could have ever believed that this was the same girl he had tormented in his youth? "That is why we need to get you out of here." Hermione nodded. Without saying another word, Draco pulled her up to a standing position. "Can you walk, Hermione? Good. Ok, what I want you to do is follow me out this door into my office. No one will ask questions while you are with me. I have had a secret keeper set up since you were admitted for if you were to ever regain your memory so that you wouldn't be located before we could sort this out. I will take you to my house through a portkey that you can recognize as a snitch paperweight located on my desk in my office, and I want you to stay in the Manor, at least until I settle everything here. Are you listening to me?"

"Why are you doing this for me?" Hermione asked her eyes boring into Draco's. Draco released his hold on Hermione's arm and stepped towards the door.

"Because I am the only one who knows you're innocent," he said, sending her a quick glance before opening the door with a flick of his wand to the loud hallway beyond. "Follow me."

Hermione did follow. Down the long, white and empty corridor; sharp turn; another long, white, empty corridor. Feeling chilled, she pulled her patient's nightgown as tightly around herself as possible, unable to keep the cold pressing in on her from all sides. One thing ran through her head, spinning around in an indistinguishable blur of disbelief. Harry was dead. Not the Harry Potter hero who the wizarding world loved and hated, followed and deserted. _Her_ Harry Potter. The Harry she had been friends with for the past… well, since she was eleven. One of the only people she could whole heartedly trust with her life. The corridor seemed endless.

Draco observed Hermione's disposition with amazement. He knew what she must be thinking, her feelings of disbelief, shock, anger, fear, anxiety and sadness were radiating off her powerful waves. It hurt him to see her like this. Oh _how times had changed,_ he recollected, realizing that how he perceived her was completely different than how Hermione would look at him everyday: distrustful and resentful, never knowing just how much he cared for her. Never knowing what had taken place in the past eight years… he stopped short of his office, slipping a key in Hermione's hand. She looked at it as though unable to comprehend the situation at hand, before slowly turning to the door, the key in her outstretched hand. Draco continued down the hall, resisting the urge to look back and check on her safety. The conference room lay ahead, and he still needed to think of an excuse to explain the sudden disappearance of one of the only criminally insane patients admitted in St. Mungo's.

Hermione found the snitch, however did not grasp its smooth exterior immediately. She wondered briefly how it would know whether to take her to Malfoy Manor or not, but rationalized that there must have been new magical breakthroughs since she had woken up. The whole scenario was dreamlike, yet bitingly real. Hermione looked around the room, noting the impeccable neatness that made the room seem almost unbearable. Making her way to the desk, her curiosity brimmed as she noticed a filing cabinet in the corner. _Now to see if this is reality or not,_ she resolved, yanking the draw open so hard the lock broke.

"What do you mean she's gone!" How can she be gone? You were with her the whole time!" Draco held his hand up, trying to silence the medi-witches, however was unheeded as the room spilled forth in a struggle of panicking wizards and witches.

Hermione was able to locate a Granger file, and the several other Granger files that followed it in chronological order. _So it was true,_ she realized, flipping through each page, oblivious to the shouts and pounding footsteps taking place outside the door.

Finding himself alone in the room, Draco darted back to his office, trying his hardest to remain unnoticed to no avail. Just as he was pulling out his key, the same medi-witch who had been Hermione's nurse that very morning appeared at his side.

"Good thinking, Dr. Malfoy! She's a smart one, might have hidden in your office!" Draco gulped, trying to think of ways to stall.

Brought back to reality by hearing the nurse's voice on the other side of the door, Hermione quickly grabbed her files under one arm, extending the other to grab a hold of the golden snitch perched innocently on Malfoy's desk. The world dissolved into a blur of colors just as the door opened, and two indistinguishable characters stepped inside.

"She must have been in here! She probably apparated out, Dr. Malfoy!" Draco nodded, looking pensive.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? She must of apparated out! Of course, it would help your theory if the girl actually knew _how_ to apparate…"

Hermione collapsed in the middle of a lavish living room that one could only assume to be the center of Malfoy Manor. She was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling paintings that were currently pointing at her and whispering among themselves anxiously. She was lying on a blatantly expensive Victorian carpet that matched the dark green leather sofas and armchairs scattered around the room. Hermione quickly hid her files under one, before bringing herself to sit down, feeling very small in a very big room.

Draco apparated home immediately, after suggesting that Hermione may have run through all the security guards, dodged all the timer spells, and managed to recover a wand to utter the unknown spells used to lock and unlock the ward. Surprisingly enough, the hospital bought it, and now had the ministry on call. Draco shook his head. It would all be sorted out once he could gather enough information and evidence to prove to a judge that she was in fact, innocent of killing her best friend eight years ago.

"So, ready for the tour?" he offered, as though he snuck apparently criminally insane patients out of his work place all the time and offered them a tour around his house. Hermione conceded, restraining herself to one incredulous look. She still had a lot of things to work out. Like why she was eight years in the future, apparently staying in her enemy's house while he played the role of her doctor and her lawyer.

A/N: thanks again and please review :D


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